Sanding apparatus for locomotives



Apnl 14, 1931. R. A. LIGHT ET AL SANDING APPARATUS FORLQCOMOTIIVES Filed June 13, 1930 Inventors o ,arzaf J km J 086 0 r zpe, r,

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Patented Apr. 14, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT orrlca RALPH A. LIGHT, OF GYNWYD, AND JOSEPH W. PRICE, JR OF PHILADELPHIA, 2mm- SYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS TO THE UNITED STATES METALLIC PACKING COMPANY, OI PEIIADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OI PENNSYLVANIA ammo arranarus ron Locouo'rIvns Application filed June 13, 1930. Serial No. 460,854.

Our invention relates to locomotive sanding apparatus and has for its object to provide in connection with a trap having a cleaning nozzle directed into its outlet pas- 5 sage and a sand delivery air nozzle directed into its sand holding chamber, a valve located in the air delivery pipe shiftable in its casing into positions in which it will alternately connect and disconnect the air nozzles 1n the trap with the supply pipe and the cleaning nozzle and directed into the deliver nozzle. It is however desirable that a re uced flow of air should be directed into the delivery pipe of the trap at the same time that the delivery nozzle is in operation and a further object of our invention is to provide an improved construction of sand trap whereby this desirable result can be secured. The novel features of our improved trap consist in forming in its walls two air receiving chambers adapted to be connected to the two delivery ports of the automatic valve and connected respectively with an air nozzle leading into the delivery passage of the trap and an air nozzle directed into the sand holding chamber of the trap and in providing the chamber connected with the sand delivery nozzle with an additional nozzle leading into the delivery passage of the trap so that after the chamber connected with the main cleaning nozzle is cut ofi from the air supply a portion of the air directed into the other chamber will still be directed into the delivery passage in the trap through the supplemental cleaning nozzle. By preference we make the two cleaning nozzles concentric with each other and by preference we provide in connection with the chamber connected with the sand delivery nozzle a regulatin valve controlling the air delivery into the c amber. Our invention also consists in various details of our preferred construction all of which will be best understood as described in connection with the drawings which illustrate our improvements and m which t Figure 1 is a side elevation of a locomotive provided with our improvements.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the sander.

Figure 3 a sectional elevation of the sander taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Figure 4 a sectional elevation'of the automatic control valve taken on the line H of Fig. 5 with piston in upper position and Figure 5 a sectional elevation of the valve taken on the section line 5-5 of Fig. 4 with piston in lower position.

A indicates a locomotive; B B and B the driving wheels; G the ordinary sand box. D is the sander of, generally speaking, ordinary construction, with the exception of the novel features to be hereafter described;

the sander has a sand containing chamber.

1) and D Fig. 1, sand traps. These traps are of. ordinary construction, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, having a sand chamber D into which sand is delivered through a pipe E or E leading from the sand box and having a delivery endl) separated from the ortion D by a dam-like structure as inicated at D". Sand traps are connected as usual with sand delivery pipes S or S leading to the track in proper relation to certain driving wheels. Coming now to the novel features of our trap, F is an air chamber connected with a port F, the eiiective area of which is controlled by a valve indicated at G, the port receiving air through a branch L leading from a valve located in the air conduit. From the air chamber F leads a nozzle port J directed into the portion D of the trap and a nozzle J directed into the deliveryend D of the trap. K indicates another air chamber formed in the delivery end of the trap receiving the air from the conduit L and delivering it into the delivery end of the trap through a nozzle J preferably forzncd as shown concentric with and surrounding the nozzle J.

L and L are air delivery conduits to which air is admitted and cut off by means of a valve as indicated at M. Each, of these conduits connects with a valve chamber indi cated at N and N This valve chamber is as shown cylindrical in form and is provided with laterally extending ports indicated at 0 0 with which connect branch conduits indicated at l and Z with regard to the right hand tra shown in Fig. 1 similar conduits being in icated at L and 8 as leading out of the left hand trap.- From the bottom of the cylindrical chamber indicated at O in Figs. 4 and 5, leads a vent passage indicated at O", which, as shown, leadsfrom the bottom of a spring seat 0 formedin the bottom head of the cylinder. 0 O are similar lateral ports leading from the lower portion of the cylinder O'and connected by branch pipes Z Z with the trap, similar pipes being indicated at L" with regard to the left hand trap indicated in Fig. 1. The cylindrical valve chamber is also provided with an intermediate port 0 which is connected with one of the air delivery pipes L or L P is a piston valve movable in the cylindrical valve chamber 0, having as shown a hollow upper head P and a lower head P in which is formed as shown a spring seat P Intermediate the ends of the cylindrical valve is formed the circumferential chamber P of such length that in both upper and lower positions of the valve it will register in part at least with the port 0 while in the upper position of the valve the chamber will register with the ports 0 and in the lower position of the valve with the ports 0 A passage or port Pof restricted area leads from the chamber P into the hollow head P of the piston valve. Q, is the spring which normally holds the valve in the upper position indicated in Fig. 4 but permits its downward movement to the position shown in Fig. 5 when air under pressure is admitted to the hollow head of the valve and the upper end of the cylinder O. 1

It will be understood that the valves indicated at N and N connect with sand traps on both sides of the locomotive.

In operation it will be understood that the valve Mis normally in a osition in which it cuts off the admission 0 7 air to both of the pipes L and L and that by shifting this valve air can be admitted to either of the pipes L or L at will. This is familiar construction and needs no further showing or explanation. Assuming that air is admitted to the conduit L it enters the valve chamber indicated at N through the ort O in the cylinder body of the valve an the valve being in its uppermost position, as shown in Fig. 4, the air passes freeliy throu' h the ports'O into the ranch con uits L 2 connectmg with the ports F of the sand traps and with the chamber F, from which the air 6 the sand chamber D ,of the trap and through passes through the delivery nozzle J 2 into from the sand chamber of the trap and tends to direct it downward into the delivery pas sage without permitting it to impinge to an undesirable extent upon the walls of the trap. e

As soon as the air is admitted to the port 0 and cylindrical chamber P it will of course pass through the restricted ort P into the upper end of the cylinder an after a very short interval will, acting on the head P of the valve P, press it down to the position shown in Fig. 5. This downward motion of the valve cuts off the connection between the ports 0 and ports 0 and opens a connection between theport 0 and ports 0 through which the air will pass freely to the branch conduits L Z from which it passes through the chamber K in the sand trap and escapes in considerable volume and at considerable pressure through the nozzle J. This is desirable in order to clear the delivery pipe S ,or S of any obstructions.

It will be understood that the essential feature of our invention lies in the provision 'of an automatic valve located in the air conduit leading to a sand trap and in efiect actuated by the pressure of an in the conduit by meansof which on the turning on of air into the conduit there is first a free admission of air into the delivery end of the trap followed immediately by a restricted flow of air through the sand delivery nozzle and preferably through a secondary nozzle directed like the cleaning nozzle into the delivery pas-- sage of the trap. Our preferred construe.- tion of apparatus for effecting this is obviously capable of considerable modification and change and is only to be understood as specifically called for in the claims where its parts are so called for.

Having now described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is:

1. A sand trap having two air delivery nozzles directed into its delivery passage and connected to separate air chambers formed in the trap and a third air nozzle connected to one ofthe air chambers formed in the trap arranged .to act upon the sand inthe sand holding chamber of the trap and carry it into the delivery passage thereof. I

2. A sand trap having the features of claim 1 in which the two air nozzles directed into the delivery passage are concentric.

3. A sand trap having the features of claim 1 in which oneof t e air chambers is provided with a valve for regulating the delive of air thereto and in which the air nozz e directed into the sand receptacle is connected to said chamber.

4. A locomotive sander mechanism comprising in combination an air supply pipe having a valve for controlling the admission of air thereto, a sand trap having a cleaner nozzle directed into the delivery outlet of the In trap and a sand delivery air nozzle directed into the sand holding chamber of the trap, a valve casing having an inlet port connected to the air supply plpe, delivery ports connected respectively with the cleaning and delivery nozzles of the trap and an air chamber connected to the admission port, a valve shiftable in the casing to alternately connect and disconnect the delivery ports with the admission port, means acting to normally hold and return the valve to its position connecting the delivery port leading to the cleaning nozzle and means located in the air chamber of the casing operated to shift the valve to connect the delivery port leading to the delivery nozzle as air pressure accumulates in said air chamber.

RALPH A. LIGHT. JOSEPH W. PRICE, JR. 

